Govt should drop idea of community survey: Kamat

Margao: The government should immediately drop the idea of community survey, and take pro-active steps to start community testing in the state as a step towards controlling the spread of COVID-19, said Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat, on Wednesday.

In a press note issued here, Kamat states that ”as we are
nearing the end of 21-day lockdown period, it is high time the government comes
out with a report giving details of actual number of testing done in Goa and
the samples sent outside Goa. We need to know how many samples are tested on a
daily basis and how much time is required to test each sample.”

He further stated that the medical fraternity and experts
in virology have clearly emphasised on the need for community testing as an
effective step towards controlling the spread of COVID-19.

Kamat is of the opinion that the government should also
reveal its plan over its preparedness for taking up community testing.

“I also urge the government to give actual data of
persons working as frontline workers and whether each one of them is provided
with personal protection equipment (PPE). As the government has stated that
various hospitals are being made ready for COVID pandemic, the availability of
ventilators and other medical equipment including medicines in all the
hospitals needs to be ascertained,” states the Leader of Opposition.

He stated that “it appears that the idea of community
survey is without proper thought process. The persons undertaking survey may be
exposed to the virus if they are not provided with PPE. The persons who will be
sent for such survey also need to be tested first to ensure that they are not
the carriers of the virus.”